A cancellation policy is only as good as the perils it names and the exclusions buried beneath them. Here is where the cover quietly stops, and how to close the gap before you need it.
Having understood that a charter deposit is largely non-refundable once the MYBA cancellation date passes, principals reasonably turn to insurance to protect the sum. Then they discover that a standard travel policy will not touch a six- or seven-figure charter, that the specialist policies which will are riddled with exclusions, and that the very events most likely to force a cancellation — a change of plan, a geopolitical flare-up, a named storm — are frequently the ones the policy declines. This page sets out what charter cancellation insurance actually covers, where the gaps lie, and how to insure the deposit so it pays when it must.
The instinct is to add the charter to an annual travel policy. It will not work. Mainstream travel insurance caps cancellation cover at a few thousand pounds or dollars — a sum that bears no relation to a charter fee that may run into hundreds of thousands. The policy will also exclude the charter outright as a high-value, specialist arrangement falling outside its schedule. A claim against it would simply be declined.
What you need instead is specialist charter cancellation cover, written by a marine or high-net-worth insurer who will underwrite the actual non-refundable sum at risk. This is bought per charter, or under an annual high-value policy that names yacht charter as a covered activity, and it is priced as a percentage of the insured amount — typically 3–8% depending on destination, season and the breadth of perils included. On a €150,000 deposit that is a premium of roughly €4,500–€12,000. The figure is not trivial, but set against a wholly non-refundable deposit it is proportionate. The discipline is to insure the precise sum the MYBA schedule would let the owner retain, not the headline charter price.
A well-written charter cancellation policy reimburses the non-refundable portion of your charter fee when a covered event prevents the charter from proceeding. The named perils are narrower than principals expect, and the policy pays only against those that are listed.
Read the schedule of insured perils first, not the marketing. If an event is not named, it is not covered, however reasonable the cancellation feels. The most expensive sentence in any cancellation claim is “I assumed that was included.”
The gaps are predictable and they are where claims die. Disinclination to travel — a change of heart, a clashing commitment, a souring of the group — is universally excluded; insurers will not underwrite a principal's prerogative to change plans. Pre-existing medical conditions not declared and accepted at inception are excluded, and the declaration must be honest and complete. Known events — a storm already forecast, unrest already underway, a pandemic already declared when you bought the policy — cannot be claimed; insurance covers the unforeseen, not the foreseeable.
Two further exclusions surprise the most. First, business reasons — a deal that demands your attention, a board meeting that cannot move — are generally not covered unless the policy specifically names them. Second, destination-driven cancellation: if you cancel because a region has become unappealing rather than because an official advisory prohibits travel, the policy will not respond. The lesson is to map your real cancellation risks — a volatile region, a guest's fragile health, a live business deal — against the named perils and exclusions before you buy, and to negotiate specific cover for the risks that matter most to you.
Principals often conflate force majeure with insurance; they are different instruments serving different ends. Force majeure is a clause in the MYBA charter agreement that addresses what happens when an extraordinary event — war, natural disaster, government prohibition — makes the charter impossible. Critically, the standard MYBA clause does not automatically refund you; it typically allows the charter to be postponed or, where impossibility is total, terminated, with monies handled according to the contract's specific wording. A force majeure event may free both parties from obligation without putting your deposit back in your account.
This is exactly the gap cancellation insurance is meant to fill — and frequently does not. Many policies exclude the same catastrophic perils that trigger force majeure: war, terrorism, named storms and pandemics. So a hurricane can simultaneously invoke force majeure (releasing the owner) and fall under a policy exclusion (releasing the insurer), leaving the principal funding the loss. Closing this gap requires reading the MYBA force majeure clause and the policy exclusions side by side, and either negotiating a postponement right into the charter contract or buying a policy that specifically names the catastrophic perils your itinerary exposes you to. One document without the other leaves a hole.
A subtler problem arises when the charter proceeds but is spoiled. A named storm forces three days at anchor in a marina rather than the planned island cruise; a port closes; the sea state confines you aboard. The charter went ahead, so most cancellation policies pay nothing — they respond to cancellation, not to disappointment. The MYBA agreement, meanwhile, gives the captain final authority over the yacht's movements for safety, and a weather-driven itinerary change is the captain doing exactly their job, not a breach.
The honest position is that ordinary bad weather is an uninsurable risk of the sea, absorbed by choosing the right cruising ground in the right season rather than by a policy. Where genuine protection exists, it is narrow: some specialist policies offer curtailment cover if the charter is cut short by an insured peril, and a small number offer limited “cruising interruption” benefits. Neither compensates you for a week that was merely less idyllic than hoped. The practical defence is upstream — itinerary choice, season, and a flexible routing the captain can adapt — with insurance reserved for the discrete, nameable catastrophe rather than the vagaries of weather.
Cancellation cover works when it is arranged deliberately and in step with the contract, not bolted on as an afterthought. The sequence matters: read the MYBA cancellation and force majeure clauses first, identify the precise non-refundable sum and the perils most likely to threaten your charter, then buy cover that names those perils and matches that sum.
Arranged this way, the policy is not a comfort blanket but a precise instrument that pays the sum at risk against the events that could actually take it. That alignment — contract, peril and insured amount — is the entire craft of protecting a charter deposit.
We do not sell insurance and we are not paid by the insurer. Through the Obsidian Helm Marketplace we source and vet yachts, brokers and the cover that protects them on your behalf, reading the MYBA cancellation and force majeure clauses against any policy you are offered so the two align rather than leave a gap. Your advisor identifies the precise non-refundable sum at risk and the perils your itinerary exposes, then introduces you to specialist high-net-worth underwriters — all under NDA, and all before a deposit is wired. Our remuneration comes by referral arrangement with vetted partners, never from your premium or your deposit, which keeps our counsel candid. Request a private introduction to begin.
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No. Mainstream travel policies cap cancellation cover at a few thousand pounds or dollars and exclude high-value charters as specialist arrangements. You need dedicated charter cancellation cover from a marine or high-net-worth insurer who will underwrite the actual non-refundable sum, priced at roughly 3–8% of the insured amount.
It reimburses the non-refundable portion of your charter fee against named perils: serious illness, injury or death of the principal or family, damage to your home or business, and the named yacht becoming unavailable through failure. Cover responds only to events listed in the policy schedule, so if a peril is not named, it is not paid.
Disinclination to travel, undeclared pre-existing medical conditions, and known events such as a forecast storm or unrest already underway are universally excluded. Business reasons and cancellation simply because a destination has become unappealing are also generally excluded unless specifically named. Mapping your real risks against the exclusions before buying is essential.
Not automatically. The standard MYBA force majeure clause typically allows the charter to be postponed or terminated when an extraordinary event makes it impossible, but it does not necessarily return your money. Worse, many insurance policies exclude the same catastrophic perils, so a hurricane can release both owner and insurer, leaving you to fund the loss unless the gap is closed deliberately.
Generally not. Cancellation policies respond to cancellation, not to a charter that proceeds but is spoiled by weather, and the captain has final authority over the yacht's movements for safety. Ordinary bad weather is an uninsurable risk managed by choosing the right cruising ground and season; only a discrete insured peril that curtails the charter may trigger limited curtailment cover.
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